Q 01/05

The 24 emperors who lived in the Forbidden City each bore which title of China's rulers?

A) Son of Heaven

B) King of Kings

C) Son of the Sun

D) Lord of the Two Lands

Answer · why

A) Son of Heaven

Son of Heaven: fourteen Ming and ten Qing emperors ruled here as heaven's deputies, a claim with a catch, since a dynasty that fell was said to have l...

Q 02/05

Before the court moved into the newly built Forbidden City in 1420, which city was the Ming capital?

A) Xi'an

B) Hangzhou

C) Nanjing

D) Luoyang

Answer · why

C) Nanjing

Nanjing lost the court when a prince who had seized the throne from his nephew moved it to his own northern base, the better to watch the Mongol front...

Q 03/05

Which Ming emperor, who sent Zheng He's fleets to sea, moved the capital to Beijing and began the Forbidden City?

A) Yongle

B) Wanli

C) Hongwu

D) Kangxi

Answer · why

A) Yongle

The Yongle Emperor had barely four years in his new palace: he spent much of his reign leading armies into Mongolia and died on campaign in 1424.

Q 04/05

Which servants, numbering in the thousands, staffed the emperor's private quarters in the Forbidden City?

A) Monks

B) Pages

C) Footmen

D) Eunuchs

Answer · why

D) Eunuchs

Eunuchs were trusted to serve inside the emperor's household precisely because they could father no children there.

Q 05/05

The 'golden bricks' paving the Forbidden City's great halls were made in which canal city?

A) Hangzhou

B) Nanjing

C) Suzhou

D) Jingdezhen

Answer · why

C) Suzhou

Suzhou and its neighbouring prefectures baked the dense paving tiles from fine clay; despite the name, there is no gold in them.